Areté and Now

According to Richard Hooker, "the most articulated value in Greek culture is areté. Translated as "virtue," the word actually means something closer to 'being the best you can be,' or 'reaching your highest human potential.' In the Homeric poems, areté is frequently associated with bravery, but more often, with effectiveness. The man or woman of areté is a person of the highest effectiveness; they use all their faculties: strength, bravery, wit, and deceptiveness, to achieve real results. In the Homeric world, then, areté involves all of the abilities and potentialities available to humans. The concept implies a human-centered universe in which human actions are of paramount importance; the world is a place of conflict and difficulty, and human value and meaning is measured against individual effectiveness in the world."